


Timing

by sarken



Category: Third Watch
Genre: F/M, Juvenilia, New Year's Eve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-01-01
Updated: 2003-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-07 19:49:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/68580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarken/pseuds/sarken
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bosco is working alone on New Year's Eve when he runs into Faith.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Timing

According to the green digital numbers of the squad's clock, it was fifteen minutes until midnight. Bosco knew the clock was wrong. It had always been four minutes slow, no matter what. He couldn't count the number of times he or Faith had tried to set it to the proper time, only for it to go back to the wrong time within an hour.

It never lost more time than four minutes.

Years ago he had given up trying to find a reason for it, but tonight...tonight he was alone, working a double shift. He was bored enough to take the time to consider the workings of the clock, but knew that his boredom would soon be interrupted. Parties would be ending in the next hour or two and all of the rowdy drunks would be moving out and onto the streets.

Bosco sighed. What wrong had he committed to deserve this terrible punishment? Who wanted to work a double on New Year's Eve, when the biggest party on the east coast was only a few blocks away? He supposed it didn't really matter; he would have been alone anyway.

Twelve minutes, the clock said. Eight, Bosco thought. Eight minutes until...until nothing at all. No girlfriend to kiss, no champagne to drink, no confetti to throw, no "Happy New Year!" to exclaim. Yes, this was the worst New Year's Eve he'd had in a long time.

He reached for his cup of coffee and closed his eyes as he took a sip, idly wondering if talking to a Styrofoam cup would be considered insane. No, he decided, I could just plead boredom. It's not like anyone will hear me, anyway.

He set the cup on the dashboard and looked at it intently. He wasn't going to talk to it without naming it first. Before he could decide on a name, however, he caught sight of something moving and turned his head to look out the window.

He grinned. It was a girl! An absolutely gorgeous blonde girl, wearing a little black dress and high heels. She wasn't wearing a coat, so Bosco reached over and turned up the squad's heater, intending to offer her a lift to wherever she was headed. He wouldn't do it for just anybody, but this woman...she wasn't just anybody, she was a knockout.

Waiting for her to get a little closer, Bosco reached over and picked up his coffee. Man, he thought as he took a drink and watched her getting nearer, she's --

"Faith?" he exclaimed, baptizing the steering wheel in coffee. He returned the cup to the dash and lowered the window as he used his jacket's sleeve to wipe off the steering wheel. "Faith, what the hell are you doing out here?" he called to her.

Faith turned to look at him. "Boz? Oh, thank God it's you." She walked over to the front passenger door as quickly as she could, and Bosco leaned across the seat to open the door for her. She slammed it shut after sliding into the seat. "It's freezing out there."

Bosco smirked. "Could it have anything to do with the dress you're not wearing?" he teased, before switching to a serious tone. "Seriously, what are you doing walking around out there, especially dressed like that?"

"Fred and I were at a party. He had too much to drink and was being a real jerk, talking about real personal stuff, you know? We had a disagreement, so I left, planning on going home. I forgot that I'd taken the money from my purse and given it to him so I didn't have to keep the thing with me all night, but there was no way I was going back, which left me with walking," Faith explained, trying to massage some warmth into her hands and arms.

Bosco shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around Faith's shoulders. She gave him a grateful smile and snuggled into it. "Want me to give you a lift back to your place?" He didn't particularly want to leave her there to deal with Fred when he drunkenly stumbled home later, but he knew that there wasn't even a slight chance that she would consider staying at his apartment.

"Please," she said, looking longingly at Bosco's cup of coffee.

He heaved an overly-dramatic sigh as he pulled onto the road. "Take it, take it."

Faith snatched the cup from its perch and began drinking the warm liquid in an effort to return some heat to her body.

"She comes in here and takes my clothes, my drink, my time..." he complained as he continued the short drive.

"Yeah, but you love me anyway."

"Damn straight," he responded, stopping the squad in front of the building.

Faith set down the empty cup and took off the jacket, which she tossed onto Bosco's lap. "Thanks," she said, taking a quick glance at the clock, which read four minutes until twelve. She was reaching for the door handle when it dawned on her.

The clock was slow. It was midnight.

When she pulled her hand back, Bosco turned to look at her. Faith took the opportunity to capture his lips with hers. She also made use of his momentary shock and slid her tongue into his mouth to deepen the kiss. He was barely able to respond before she pulled back. "Happy New Year, Boz," she said quietly as she got out of the car and shut the door.

The front door had closed behind her and Bosco still hadn't moved. He just sat there, wondering if he could come back when the year began for each of the other time zones.


End file.
